Hair Adventures – The Vitamin C Trick Worked!

So as we’re all well aware, I’m trying to pull the red out of my hair in order to go blonde for the summer. Below is what I started off with, and as you well know my favorite red. It’s bright. It’s classy. It’s a color when inside looks “normal”, but outside brightens right up to “that red!” A success too- I’m now known around town (well, was) as “The Redheaded Girl.”

Back to the bleaching process. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but I didn’t expect to become partially blonde, partially orange, partially brassy copper, partly red. Heh. It’s been quite a ride, hasn’t it?! It’s been a week since I bleached my hair, twice in one night. No- not the smartest thing to do, so right off the bat I recommend strongly that unless you know how your hair reacts to bleach processing- do not do it twice in a row!! That was a risk I took, knowing my hair might end up over processed, damaged, or worse- breaking off at various lengths. So take it from me- do not bleach twice in an evening. I was lucky.

Well, I’ve made extra sure to condition my hair not only in the shower, but also with leave in conditioners and silky smoothing products. Yeah, it means my hair gets greasier a bit quicker, but it’s important it does such- the natural oils that your scalp generates will in essence “go crazy” and over produce. I then take my boar-bristled brush and make sure I brush my hair for about 5 minutes to distribute the oil and products through my hair evenly. This helps my hair heal faster- sealing the cuticle so it doesn’t look so dry, but a heck of a lot better than the photo below!

Now, in doing all this, my friend Rebecca posted quite an interesting link to an article written by Kimmi Kill Zombie on my Facebook Page in regards of what to use to best strip color from hair without using harsh chemicals. I’m a natural blonde, probably more of a brownish tone now that I’m older, and I’ve had my hair red for years. To pull that amount of well worked in dye, I knew it would take some patience and work. Plus, the fact that I’m not currently employed kind of puts a damper in what I can spend on my hair. I’m not paying $100 an hour for “color correcting” at the salon up here. Thanks, but I’d rather have orange hair. Back to my friend- she posted this link about what soaps to use and how well they lift color in order for you to dye/bleach. The first was very obvious- shampoo. Just keep washing your hair. Or, wash vigorously, rinse, and then lather in hair again and leave for an hour, two, three, however long you can stand damp hair under a shower cap. This process will slowly wash out your hair- temporary color will of course fade quicker than permanent.

Second was to use liquid dish soap like Palmolive, Dawn or Joy. It’s simply a more concentrated solution of soap of course. Instructions are the same as step 1, and it lifts a little more color than shampoo. Make sure to moisturize your hands or wear gloves, because as we all know, when we wash dishes a lot, our hands dry out.

The third option was the one that surprised me. Really, honestly surprised me. I was pessimistic. Wary even. But figured, what the heck- it really won’t hurt me because it’s juts a vitamin. So…. To the vitamin I turned. I grabbed my Vitamin C pills (with rose hips, which I don’t think made a difference) which were 1000mg each. I crushed up 6 with a rolling pin, after breaking them in half with my fingers. I probably did too much, because my hair is short, but I mixed into about 3 Tablespoons of shampoo. Take a look below:

This mixture quickly became very thick and pasty. I didn’t want to use a bunch of shampoo, so I used a spray bottle filled with water and sprayed it with about an additional Tablespoon of water to “loosen” it up. Yes, as you can see, I’m sporting my super-stylish Tinkerbell PJ bottoms. I gotta rock it out in the cute cartoon characters every so often you know!

Once it was mixed well and a little foamy, the picture above, I took it to the bathroom. It looks a little lumpy- but don’t worry about it. You probably won’t crush all the pills perfectly. Just make sure the majority of them end up in powder form. I sprayed my hair with the water until it was pretty damp, not dripping though. I picked up the mixture with my fingertips and massaged it into my hair, making sure I got everywhere- the blonde, the red, the black. Everything. It felt a little pasty, so I sprayed more water until I was able to lather the mixture into slightly bubbly consistency on my head. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the mixture left on my hand was coming away faintly tinged pink.

Next, I grabbed a plastic shopping bag…

Smexxxxxy! HAHA… I hunkered down in front of my computer here. Isn’t it incredibly attractive how one can look with a plastic shopping bag plastered and tucked onto one’s head!? I can’t believe I posted this picture, and the one below… My face is splotchy- no makeup, I had an unfortunate run in with some baby powder earlier in the morning, and apparently didn’t see the spots I didn’t entirely wipe off my face… See those awful bags under my eyes that make me look like I have black eyes? Yeah- that’s why I usually either don’t leave the house, or I put on makeup before I go out. I don’t want to scare everyone away…. Don’t look too closely- trust me, it’s for your own safety! My intention was to leave it on for an hour… But after the time had elapsed, I didn’t have any itching or rash like it seems some people do. I have incredibly sensitive skin, but rugged hair, so I thought it was ok to let it keep going until I started feeling itchy. Or burning. I got distracted.

So here’s my UH-OH face! I was only going to leave it for 2 hours, but time flew by and before I knew it, three had passed! Up and away to get a towel I went! Now I’ll point out throughout the processing of this strange lifting process, there were some “drips” of moisture that came out down my forehead and out the back of the bag on my neck. Not a problem, but make sure the mixture does not get into your eyes! It’s painful! The shampoo and crushed up Vitamin C makes a good lifting mixture, but it is not eye friendly! I simply had a paper-towel I used to wipe the drips as they snuck out of the bag.

I rinsed my hair out in the bathroom sink downstairs. I used tepid water, and rinsed some of the paste out of my hair before lathering up- just to get the extra out. At first, the water was only tinted pink… Which kind of made me happy- secretly I was hoping for more color to wash out. I wasn’t done there though- after the majority of the paste rinsed out, I used what stayed in there to lather up and wash. Oh yes I got some bubbly foam going, and my hair felt soft and silky… I lathered some more, then rinsed…

It looked like strawberry milk-shake was being washed down the drain- that’s how much this trick worked on pulling the color from my hair. Really?! I was excited! This much color coming out means…. It’s going to be so much easier to bleach my hair to platinum! Score! Wanna see?

This is the result! The majority of the brassiness and orange is now lifted from my hair. Sure, there’s still a bit left over- but this isn’t bad at all. And with my intentions to bleach again, it’s going to make the process that much easier. So was this a good way to go about “lifting” color? Yes. I think it is! Yes, I used a deep conditioner after this process. My hair feels so incredibly soft and thick right now. Vitamin C- who knew?!

Have you tried this method to lift excess color from your hair? Was it successful?